Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama

title page

Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama, with an Introduction, Notes, and a Glossary by John Matthews Manly, (1865-1940). Volume 1 of 2. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1897.

This looks to be promising, if only because the title page epigram reads

This is the silliest stuff that e’er I heard!
The best in this kind are but shadows;
and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them.